Shaji Punchathu / GALLERY 1000A / NEW DELHI
JOURNEY BEYOND
GROUP SHOW OF PAINTINGS BY GREAT ARTISTS – R.S BABU, UMA SHANKAR PATHAK AND SANU V RAMAKRISHNAN AT GALLERY 1000A, NEW DELHI.
For a long time, artists and poets have been standing forefront in expressing their anguish and often foretold the aftermath of the man made devastations. However, during the last eight months we have been witnessing the spread of the pandemic in our urban and suburban habitats. This is the backdrop of the show ‘Journey Beyond’ by three famous artists who were in fact the residents from the affected areas. Besides that, they are sharing a common thread in their approach in expressing the effect of Covid -19 in their personal life as well as the life around them. Even if there are depressing elements cropping up, real or imagined, we have to overcome the spirit of togetherness, and see the hope flowering within and rise beyond from the limiting dark forces.
R S Babu, Kerala based artist who is senior and experienced among this group, has several shows to his credit. Time seems to be the most prominent element to his work, time has the ultimate power to keep the balance of sustenance maintained in nature, an invincible force itself, for fall or rise of all. Artist tries to approach the surroundings and finds out the metaphor as the fallen left out branches of wild wood and roots, shockingly discovering the creeping termites.
Uma Shankar Pathak, artist hailing from Bihar, practicing in Delhi after obtaining post graduation in visual art from Pracheen kalakendra, Chandigarh, deals the theme of contrast between the rural struggles of survival and urban desire for abundance in his canvases. His rural upbringing and eventual migration to a big city made him experienced personally on what complexity it carries. The unforgettable tragic events taking place in Indian roads recently, a massive return of the migrants to their native place, made a heavy impact in his hopes and dreams, a sphere where only darkness prevails now. This is where he assimilated with the dooms of migrant brethren those who are being the receiving end of the catastrophe.
Sanu V Ramakrishnan, artist who is proficient on both painting and sculpting has post graduated from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Tripunithura, Kerala directly expresses his dismay on the present state of affairs with minimal pallet of monochrome hues and figuration in stipulated lines. What appears apparently a scene of gloom, a final farewell to a departed one to whom they mourn.
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Shaji Punchathu is a famous artist working as founder director of Gallery 1000A, a contemporary art gallery under the cultural organisation, Kalarang in Delhi promoting versatile artistic practices across multiple platforms. Many international Art fairs were conducted including Busan Art fair, Gwanju Art fair, Art Asia, Art Dubai, Barcelona Swab festival and Hongkong Art fair. He has organised 10 National artist camps, 12 National Group Exhibitions, 4 Solo Shows of artists of national repute and participated in 16 International art fairs in Asia, Europe and USA.
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